Lake Forest : Council to Consider Request for Patrol

The City Council tonight will consider a plan to use police traffic enforcement officers to patrol a private community because of problems caused by commuters cutting through its neighborhoods during rush hour.

The Lake Forest II Homeowners Assn. wants the city to assign police to patrol their streets during rush hour. Lake Forest officials say providing such extra protection could set a precedent in a city in which almost one-third of the streets are privately owned.

“We really can’t select one particular group and overlook the others,” said Mayor Ann Van Haun. “If we do this” for Lake Forest II homeowners, she said, “we have to do it for all of them.”

The city maintains police patrols on 118 miles of public roadways. Private communities account for about 50 miles of street in Lake Forest.

About 18 miles of road are in Lake Forest II, which lies mainly between Jeronimo and Trabuco roads from the city border to El Toro Road.

Homeowners association officials say the public is using their streets heavily in an effort to avoid heavily congested arteries.

Commuters speed through their neighborhoods at speeds of up to 70 m.p.h. and sometimes disregard stop signs, residents say.

The association wants police to make periodic sweeps of the area and to write several tickets a day as a deterrent.

They also want a portable radar trailer that displays the speed of passing motorists to be stationed on one street for one day each week.

Association officials could not be reached for comment.